1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a male connector for a telephone and/or data processing communications network.
It more particularly applies to the transmission network using multi-line cables, such as e.g. local or non-local networks, which permit data transmissions (e.g. the networks known under the names STARLAN, ETHERNET, TOKEN RING, etc.), or digital telephone data transmissions (e.g. the RNIS network or digital service integration network). It is known that it is indispensable to be able to connect in branched manner or in series on each network in a simple manner one or more data terminal equipments (DTE) of the data processing and/or telephone type, as a function of the network type considered. Such a data terminal equipment is also known as a terminal or a station.
2. Discussion of the Background
A male connector making it possible to connect, by means of the lines of a communications cable, a data processing and/or telephone terminal to a network by inserting the male connector in a female connector having connecting terminals connected to said network, is e.g. described in European patent application 366556, filed on Oct. 26, 1989. The latter more specifically describes a universal connection system for connecting a processing terminal to a data transmission network. This universal system comprises a male connector and a female connector. The male connector in particular has a parallelepipedic insulating support with two lateral faces, an upper face, a lower face, a front face and a rear face, and connecting terminals partly embedded in the support and issuing onto one of the upper or lower faces. These terminals are connected to the lines of a communications cable surrounded by an insulating envelope and entering into the support by its rear face. The connecting terminals of the male connector respectively come into contact by sliding with the corresponding terminals of a female connector. These female connector terminals are located in a case and are respectively connected to the lines of a communications network. The contacts between the terminals of the male connector and the female connector are established during the insertion of the male connector into the insertion window formed in a front face of the female connector case. This insertion window has edges, which are respectively parallel to the faces of the insulating support of the male connector.
The insulating support of the male connector described in said patent application also comprises a rigid elastic tongue, rendered integral with the support in the vicinity of a face adjacent to the front face of the connector and opposite to the face by which the connecting terminals of the male connector pass out or issue. This tongue is joined to the support by a planar base, which is wider than the tongue. This tongue and this base are inclined and engage in a corresponding recess of the front face of the case, adjacent to the insertion window. The base connecting the tongue to the support has a transverse locking shoulder, so that during the insertion of the male connector in the female connector, the tongue and the base are progessively turned down towards the lower face of the support, by the bearing and sliding of said base on the edges of the recess adjacent to the window of the case. At the end of insertion, the tongue and the base are moved away from the support in order to lock the position of the male connector, by the bearing of the shoulder of the base on an inner wall of the front face of the case. A portion of the tongue remains accessible outside the case.
The advantage of the male connectors of this type is that they have a very reduced size and ensure a good locking of the position of the male connector in the female connector. This advantage can become a disadvantage, e.g. when the cable connected to the male connector is subject to an untimely pulling action, when a person moving in the vicinity of the cable becomes hooked up with it due to carelessness, thus leading to the probable dropping of the apparatus or terminal connected to the said cable with significant risks of the female connector being pulled out.